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Brad Colbow to Use a Drawing Tablet Oct 4, 2022
Most people buy drawing tablet to create digital art. I've collected some links below to help them get started on this journey.
I do recommend you get a drawing tablet for digital art, but remember you don't have to force yourself to use a tablet for everything.
Many people use tablets in addition to other techniques. For example, some people draw on paper and then photograph or scan the drawing to get it into their computer. From there, they just finish up their work with a drawing tablet.
Digital art
Nadiaxel - Beginner's Guide to Become a Digital Artist - Drawing Tablets & Apps 2022/07/04
Brad Colbow - Digital Art for Beginners (2020 Edition) 2020/02/24
Trent Kaniuga - Getting started with digital art Tools and practices 2022/03/02
Marc Brunet - THE BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO DIGITAL ART (from an art teacher) 2020/12/12
Learning to draw and paint
Drawabox (https://drawabox.com/) - Drawabox is a set of free exercise-based lessons that focus on the fundamentals
Kawaii Sensei (https://x.com/KawaiiSensei_jp) - There's lots of practical tips every day.
EtheringtonBrothers (https://x.com/EtheringtonBros) - More frequent practical tips. And they publish useful printed guidebooks.
If you are new to drawing tablets, after reading this guide you'll understand how these devices work and be prepared to use one or to purchase one.
Buying a tablet? Read this beginner's guide first. Then look at the detailed buying guide. It has links to my recommendations. If are a beginner, and want to get a very quick recommendation, go here: Recommended drawing tablets for beginners.
Position tracking
A drawing tablet lets you use a digital pen (also called a stylus) as an input device. As you move the pen on the tablet, your operating system pointer around (a.k.a. your mouse cursor) mirrors the motion of the pen. This demonstrates the first key feature of a drawing tablet - the accurate tracking of the pen's position.
Clicking
Every time you touch the pen to the tablet, your computer will interpret the contact as being the equivalent of pressing a mouse button. If you tap, it is interpreted as a mouse click. If you press down and move the pen it is just like you are holding down a mouse button and moving the mouse.
Hover
The tablet tracks the pens position up to about 10mm from the surface of the tablet and will move the pointer even if the pen is not touching the tablet. This is called hover and is very important because it lets you reposition the pointer without drawing or clicking.
Pressure sensitivity
A drawing tablet knows how hard you are pressing down on with the tip of the pen. This is called pressure sensitivity. Pressure is very important for creative applications. For example, a painting application a can change the size of your brush strokes based on the pressure. So small amounts of pressure result in thin strokes and pressing down harder will make the strokes thicker.
Pen tilt
Most drawing tablets also detect how the pen is tilted relative to the surface of the tablet. This pen tilt detection is also useful for creative applications. For example, it can also be used to alter the size of stroke such that increased tilt results in an thicker stroke.
Pen tablets are the simplest and least expensive kind of drawing tablet. They are often called: "screenless tablets" or "non-screen tablets".
They DO NOT have an embedded display
They REQUIRE A COMPUTER to be used.
They REQUIRE A MONITOR attached the the computer or that the computer is a laptop.
The key skill required to use a pen tablet is that you must adjust to your hand drawing on one surface (the tablet) while you are looking at another surface (your monitor). Most people can adjust to this immediately or within a few days, but some people find this weird and for them one of the other device options may be a better choice.
Pen tablets cost between $50 to $500.
Pen displays are drawing tablets that have an embedded display panel. They are also called: "screen tablets", "display tablets".
Key attributes:
They DO have an embedded display
They REQUIRE A COMPUTER to be used.
A pen display may look like a laptop or an iPad. However unlike those devices you should be aware that the tablet will always have to have at least one cord coming from it that is connected to a computer.
Pen displays cost between $300 to $3500.
Pen computers are essentially laptops with an embedded pen tablet. You don't need them to be connected up to a separate computer to work. Because pen computers have a CPU, they are running an operating system and all current pen computers use Microsoft Windows. Some people love using pen computers but I don't recommend pen computers. Instead, I recommend you choose a mobile computer with pen support.
Pen computers cost between $1000 to $3500.
These are NOT drawing tablets, but because they are very very similar to pen computers in that they are standalone and you can use a pen to draw with them - we can talk about them as an viable alternative to a pen computer.
But the key difference is a pen computer is intended for drawing, whereas a mobile computer with pen support is meant for general purpose use, but also you can use a pen do draw.
Sometimes the drawing experience with a mobile computers can really rival that of a pen computer. Sometimes they even use the same pen technology. But other times, they use a different technology and the drawing experience is not as good or may be missing features. So you have to carefully choose which devices you pick here.
In this category I think the Apple iPad provides the most compelling experience, followed closely by a Samsung Galaxy Tab S9.
More here: Using an iPad as a drawing tablet
Drawing - Of course, many people use drawing tablets for drawing, sketching, painting, photo-editing etc. All the fundamental creative tasks.
Gaming - Drawing tablets are popular for some games. More here: Gaming with drawing tablets
Mouse replacement - Using a drawing tablet as a simple mouse replacement. Some people find a pen more comfortable to hold than a mouse. More here: Using a drawing tablet instead of a mouse
Whiteboarding - especially with so many online meetings and remote learning. Many people use a drawing tablet with virtual whiteboard software.
Educational videos - They are popular for creating videos in the same style as "Khan Academy".
Document markup and review - They are useful for going through documents and annotating them with other notes and corrections.
Note taking - Especially with pen computers, students for example, take them to their classes and write down their notes digitally. More here: Taking notes with drawing tablets
Wacom is THE UNDISPUTED LEADER of drawing tablets and have been for 40 years. They are the best and also the most expensive. But there are many other brands out there. You should familiarize yourself with them before you buy a drawing tablet. Learn more here: Drawing Tablet Brands
Tracking pen position - any modern drawing tablet does a good job with this. Learn more here: Pen tracking
Hover - Tablets detect the position of the pen even when the pen does not touch the surface of the tablet - usually up to a distance of 10 mm. All drawing tablets support hover. More here: Pen hover
Pen pressure - The pen detects how hard you are pressing on its tip. All modern pens detect about 8192 levels of pressure. But even 2048 would be enough for any creative use. Learn more here: Pen pressure.
Pen tilt - Pen tilt is useful if you work with a creative application with brushes respond to tilt. Learn more here: pen tilt.
Pen buttons - Pens usually feature two buttons. By default these buttons will act as a left mouse click and a right mouse click. You can configure the buttons to perform other actions. More here: pen buttons
ExpressKeys - These are buttons or dials on the tablet. Not all tablets have them, but many do. You can configure express keys to perform actions like undo, change brush size, change zoom, etc. Learn more here: ExpressKeys
Touch - A small number of tablets support touch. In summary, touch for tablets has never come close to how well it works with the iPad. More here: touch support
The active area is the region on the tablet that your draw on. More here: active area.
When we talk about the "size" of a drawing tablet - we are referring to the size of the active area. Different people have different needs for size. To learn how to find the right size, look here: Choosing the right tablet size
When you connect a tablet to your computer, the computer needs to know how to use that tablet with a special app called a "tablet driver". If you do not install the driver, then the tablet will not work correctly. Installing the tablet driver requires administrator permissions on your computer. More here: drivers.
All pen tablets can be connected with a single USB cable. Many pen tablets (but not all) can be connected wirelessly - for example via Bluetooth.
Pen displays do NOT have any wireless options. There is always at least one cable used with a pen display. Pen displays are more varied than pen tablets in how the cabling works. In truth, connecting a pen display can be very complicated. It's very important you understand how a pen display will connect to your computer before you purchase a pen display. More here: connecting a pen display to a computer
Any application on your computer, will treat the pen just as if you have a mouse. So, broadly speaking, all applications are compatible with drawing tablet. If the tablet driver is installed, then Pen-aware applications take advantage of special features of the pen such as pressure, tilt, etc. Great examples of pen-aware applications are Krita and Clip Studio Paint, which are popular drawing applications. More here: applications
At the end of the pen that touches the tablet is a little replaceable nib. Mostly these nibs are plastic and sometimes felt. Nibs wear down over time. Fast fast it wears down depends on a lot of factors. If it wears down too much, it might scratch the tablets. So, before it wears down too much you should replace your nib with a fresh one. More here: nib wear
A drawing tablet uses absolute positioning and a mouse uses relative positioning. They behave very differently. More here: absolute versus relative positioning. Using the tablet driver, you can mmake the tabletke tablet and pen work more like a mouse by using mouse mode.
Drawing tablets typically use a technology called Electromagnetic Resonance (EMR). One key benefit of EMR is that EMR pens don't need a battery inside, the pens get their energy just by being near the tablet. More here: EMR tablet technology
My hobby concerning drawing tablets is centered largely around creatives - people who are drawing, sketching, etc. Despite using tablets for well over a decade, only in 2022 did I discover people were using drawing tablets for games. And some of these games are quite popular.
They have about 1.7M monthly active users who play osu!
While creatives tend to use their drawing tablets in standard ways, osu! players do a number of quite surprising things:
Players use tablets of various sizes: Small, Medium, and Large. Small is the most popular based on the videos I've seen.
Players often customize the active area to be surprisingly small - much smaller than even the default active area. In the video above, notice how the player moved the pen only in a tiny region of that tablet.
OTD has less lag than manufacturer drivers
OTD is highly customizable through it's plug-in system
OTD works across many tablet models
OTD works on Windows, Mac, and Linux
Drag players play with the pen touching the surface of the tablet.
Hover players don't let the pen touch the tablet surface.
There are various clicking styles used by osu! players.
click by tapping the pen on the tablet
click by using the keyboard
click by alternating between the pen tapping and keyboard presses
Some osu! players - at least the ones I communicate with regularly - are remarkably knowledgeable about drawing tablets.
They know a tremendous amount about the hardware, drivers, etc. Some conduct original research and testing of tablets. Some write code for OpenTabletDriver.
I would consider them absolute experts - far beyond any drawing tablet reviewer out there and myself.
They are also incredibly sensitive to microscopic behaviors, latencies, etc. in drawing tablets - far more than someone who has typically has used tablets only for creative tasks.
Players do advanced customization of osu! through OpenTabletDriver plug-ins. Some examples:
Circular/Elliptical tablet areas
Rotated tablet areas
Live active area randomization
Players using drawing tablets for FPS games is less common than for Rhythm games, but this is the preferred input device for some people.
If you just acquired a drawing tablet and want to start using it, this guide will lead you through the basics.
Read the manual for your tablet. You don't need to even open the box. You can download the manual from the manufacturer website.
If drop the pen to the floor, usually it will be unharmed.
When you are not using it make sure its stored in such a way it doesn't fall off your desk.
HOWEVER, sometimes a pen seems to hit just right and the fall can damage the pen.
The pen has somewhat delicate parts inside and is the most likely thing you will break. If you lose or damage your pen, there are some things you need to know:
Pens are surprisingly expensive to replace.
Some pens cost half the cost of the tablet
Some pens (especially Wacom Pro pens) are more expensive than the tablets of other brands.
You need the tablet driver installed for the tablet to work correctly.
You can go to the manufacturer site and download the driver and install now before your tablet even arrives.
If the tablet driver is installed, when you connect the tablet with USB cable the driver will just detect the tablet and the pen will work as soon as it comes close to the tablet (about 10mm)
The drivers install an app you can use to configure the driver. The apps have different names depending on your tablet brand
Pen tablet - There will be a simple USB cord. These days the cords are all USB-C cords.
Some pen tablets ALSO support wireless connection. For now ignore wireless. It just adds more complication. Get it working with a cable first
If the pen is in range (about 10mm) of the tablet or touching the tablet , then moving the pen will move the mouse pointer.
If the pen is not touching the tablet, it will be like your are not pressing down any mouse buttons
if the pen is touching the tablet, it will be like you are holding down the left mouse button
In drawing apps which are pen aware can take advantage of other features like pressure and tilt.
If you are using a drawing program, You don't need to hold down any button for it to draw, just put touch the pen to the tablet.
The active area on the tablet is the region of the tablet that is sensitive to the pen.
Wacom calls this the "Active Area" in their docs. In their driver, it is called "Mapping"
Huion calls this the "Working Area"
I will always call it the "active area" because that is the oldest term for it.
Go into the driver and and find the active area and get familiar with what it looks like. It's one of the most common things you'll need to adjust.
This step is needed for pen tablets (the ones without a screen)
The active area can be mapped to 1 of your displays or multiple displays.
For now, map the active area to a single display.
This step is needed for pen tablets (the ones without a screen). You don't have to do this for other kinds of tablets.
This step is important for pen tablets. If you don't do this there will be a distortion as you draw - in other words tracing out a perfect circle on the tablet will draw an oval on the screen.
osu! is a popular rhythm game and many of its players use drawing tablets instead of a mouse. ()
<- this video is relatively well known in the osu! community.
You can get the live stats from here:
Players often do not use manufacturer drivers, but instead they use because:
More here:
example: ()
I suggest you first read
If you don't have a drawing tablet, then try this .
Make sure you know the model number of the tablet. This will help you in many ways later. More here: .
Make sure you know how to for your tablet manufacturer
First drawing tablets are generally only compatible with the pen they came with or a small number of pens. So note down the model number of the pen. You will need this to get a replacement. More here:
More here:
Pen display - There are several options. See
If you encounter a "NO SIGNAL" message, follow these troubleshooting steps:
Once the tablet driver is installed and the tablet is connected it will detect the pen. It will treat the pen just like a mouse. (except a mouse uses relative positioning and the pen uses absolute positioning. more here: )
More here:
Change the active area settings to use the same aspect ratio as the screen. Explanation and instruction here: .
Perform this configuration:
Krita - I highly recommend you Install . It is a FREE and good drawing app. Eve if you are not going to draw anything, it is useful for testing and troubleshooting.
Kleki - is a FREE web-based app that is very simple. It's ideal I think for something for kids to start with before they try something complicated like Krita.
Clip Studio Paint - I draw a lot of illustrations so I pay for a subscription to .
Photopea () is a web-based Photoshop-like app. It is very good and also has a free tier.
- this is THE drawing app to get if you are drawing on an iPad.
- this is the equivalent of Procreate, but for Android devices.
Other applications - Look here to find a large number of applications to explore:
Drawing tablets are heavily used for creating educational content. For example you've probably seen the Khan Academy videos and those are created with a drawing tablet.
For this you want high reliability and durability and you DO NOT need to spend a lot of money buying a fancy tablet. And for those reasons I'll keep the recommendations short:
Pressure support - Will help you strokes look more natural. All drawing tablets have this pressure support.
Tilt - not needed for education use. More of an artist thing.
Tablet buttons (aka. ExpressKeys) - I think they can come in very useful for people. For some people these are critical. No harm in getting them, you can always disable them.
Size - Medium or Small. I always recommend medium. Even though some people are OK with small tablets, I do see a far number of people say the small size makes their hand feel cramped.
Pen tablets (no screen)
One by Wacom Medium (CTL-672)
Pressure: YES
Tilt: NO
Tablet Buttons: NO
Wireless: NO
Wacom Intuos Medium (CTL-6100 or CTL-6100WL)
Pressure: YES
Tilt: NO
Tablet buttons: YES
Wireless: Only the CTL-6100WL supports wireless
Pen displays (have a screen)
XP-Pen Artist 12 GEN2 (CD120FH)
Pressure: YES
Tilt: YES
Tablet buttons: YES
Wireless: NO
XP-Pen Artist 13 GEN2 (CD130FH)
Pressure: YES
Tilt: YES
Tablet buttons: YES
Wireless: NO
Wacom One GEN1 (DTC-133)
Pressure: YES
Tilt: YES
Tablet buttons: NO
Wireless: NO
Sal Khan uses a Wacom Intuos Pro Medium for his videos. That is an AMAZING tablet, but honestly overkill. You can get by with a much less expensive tablet.
Which specific model of Intuos Pro he is using?
It does NOT look to be the latest model of Intuos Pro Medium (PTH-660). You can tell this because in one of his videos he shows the tablet and I can see some things that clearly mark it as an older tablet.
The pen does not look like the Wacom Pro Pen 2 that comes with the PTH-660
The USB-cable connects with a thicker end and is not the L-shaped connector that comes PTH-660
The back of the tablet has the older Wacom branding.
Note that the Khan Academy has this document What software program/equipment is used to make Khan Academy videos? In that doc, they say he uses a Wacom Bamboo tablet. I suspect this probably was true at some point, but he clearly no longer uses it.
Teach with Khan - Sal's Tips for Creating Blackboard Videos for Remote Learning - this is the video where he shows that he uses Wacom Intuos Pro Medium tablet.
ClassPoint - Best Way to Use Wacom Tablet for Online Teaching with PowerPoint [One by Wacom] Dec 2, 2020
GRUMO - Teach with a Tablet (Full Tutorial + Demo) May 26, 2020
Taking notes is a popular scenario for drawing tablets.
Generally I believe you will get the most natural experience taking notes if you use a standalone tablet or dedicated note taking devices. Because both these kinds of devices have screens, are portable, and don't require a computer to use. And this makes them very convenient for taking notes.
On the other hand some people enjoy taking notes with pen tablets (screenless tablets) or pen displays (screen tablets).
Besides locating the position of the pen there are two pen features to discuss.
pen pressure - this is somewhat useful for taking notes because it will make your notes look a bit more natural.
pen tilt - for taking notes, I don't think this is very important at all. And many note taking apps ignore this feature entirely.
Some people can work very well with using a pen tablet for taking notes. Though I'm not one of these people. The chief difficulty in taking notes with the pen tablet is that you cannot see what you are writing and instead you have to look at the screen of your computer. Some find this difficult for taking notes . But for others it works very well.
Considerations:
Size. Small pen tablets don't offer much space for writing and it can feel cramped. A medium pen tablet is better, but then it takes up much more space.
Wireless. You might prefer to get a pen tablet that supports a wireless connection. Because it can be a little irritating to have the tablet always physically connected to the computer.
Recommended pen tablets
If you do want to use a pen tablet for taking notes here are some devices that will work well and don’t cost too much. You can even find them for less cost on eBay.
Wacom One Medium (CTL-672)
Wacom One Small (CTL-472)
Pen displays, because they do have a screen, generally feel more natural for note taking than a pen tablet. However the chief problem with the pen display is that it requires connection with the computer.
Considerations:
Size - a 13" or smaller pen display should work fine. In fact 13" may even be a bit large for this purpose.
Wireless. A pen display will always have at least one wire that needs to be connected to the computer.
Power. The pen display will draw a significant amount of power from your laptop. And this will really reduce the battery life of your laptop.
Complex connection. Ideally you would use a single cable to connect a pen display to a computer. But for various reasons this is not always possible. As an alternative you may be required to have a more complex cabling arrangement - often using a 3-in-1 cable. More here about using one USB-C cable with a pen display.
Pointer lag. Pen displays have a lot of pointer lag - this can be very difficult to deal with when taking notes - especially if you write fast. More here: lag
Dropping the tablet. If you are note taking in a location where you might drop your pen display, in many cases you will either experience a cracked screen or simply break the tablet entirely.
See the note taking section here: Applications
If your are a creative, then it's pretty obvious why there's a benefit to using a drawing tablet instead of a mouse when you are drawing.
Some people simply want to use the drawing tablet as a mouse replacement. They can definitely serve this purpose.
I did this for about 10 years. Although I always had a mouse connected, 99.9% of the time I used a drawing tablet.
I used a MEDIUM sized tablet - something the size of a Wacom Intuos Pro Medium.
For a few years I a SMALL sized tablet - something the size of a Wacom Intuos Pro small. When I was using the small tablet, I was in a non-artistic phase so I was not drawing with it much.
I generally recommend MEDIUM sized tablets as a mouse replacement, but SMALL can work also.
One of the reasons I avoided using the mouse was that it was causing wrist pain. The pen was helpful in reducing the pain. However, if I do draw a lot over a month or so, I can develop wrist pain. So a drawing tablet might help, but it will not eliminate these kinds of problems.
To make it easier to switch between typing and using the pen I ALWAYS held the pen in my hand even when typing.
When drawing I held it like you would normally hold a pen, but when I switched to typing, as I extended out my fingers the pen I would rotate the pen so the tip is pointing up and to the side.
The vast majority of drawing tablets support pressure sensitivity. For a mouse replacement, tilt is not important.
The vast majority of drawing tablets support tilt. This is useful for art. Even then not all artists use the tilt feature. For a mouse replacement, tilt is not relevant.
Modern mice are incredibly sturdy devices. They don't even have moving parts except for the buttons. You could drop them from your desk and they will still work.
Drawing tablet pens are much more sensitive. They have more delicate and sensitive parts. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you DO NOT DROP THEM. Sometimes they work perfectly after that. But they can malfunction in all sorts of ways after a drop. And keep in mind that the pens are not cheap. If you need to buy a replacement it will be anywhere from $35 USD to $90 USD.
In a a mouse, you can independently move and click. This means you can move the pointer without accidentally clicking.
The same thing works with drawing tablet pen. But you should realize how it works.
To click - you tap down on the tablet with the pen
To move AND click at the same time - you press down on the tablet and move the pen. The click lasts as long as you are touching the tablet.
With a mouse this is SUPER EASY you can jsut not move the mouse. And it is EASY to keep a mouse still. You can even let go of the mouse from your hand the pointer won't move.
With a drawing tablet, this is actually very hard. Because you have to HOVER the pen at the exact same spot above the tablet. That is very hard to do, because any motion of your hand will often move the pointer.
It's easy to avoid accidental clicks with a mouse.
With a pen you have to HOVER. And if you accidentally touch the surface it will count as a click.
For the vast majority of mice, you can just plug them into a computer and they will "just work". This is because the computer has drivers for mice already installed.
That isn't quite the case for drawing tablets. You will need to install the tablet driver.
Mice can be:
Wired only
Wireless only
Wired + Wireless
Drawing tablets can be
Wired only
Wired + Wireless
There are no drawing tablets that are wireless only.
Latency - There is a little extra latency when using wireless. Some people don't use wireless for this reason.
Interference - Usually tablets use Bluetooth. You may find that devices liek phones when they are close to your tablet may interfere. Usually this takes the form of an unresponsive pen or stuttering of pointer position as you move.
Lots of them would work. The easy choices are:
One by Wacom Small (CTL-472)
One by Wacom Medium (CTL-672)
Wacom Intuos Small (CTL-4100)
Wacom Intuos Medium (CTL-6100)
Generally, I would suggest a medium size, though small can work also.
Other brands also have tablets that work as mouse replacements, but the safe choice is Wacom because of their track record of reliability.
Almost certainly you've used a mouse with a computer, and this this document will help you understand how using a drawing tablet with its pen differs from using a mouse.
With a drawing applications you'll notice that the strokes drawn with a mouse have a rougher stair-step effect and in general are not as smooth.
Position smoothing (aka "stabilization") is one of these techniques. However, Some apps may allow position smoothing with drawing tablets but not with mice.
Here's what Krita currently does:
Basic smoothing: applies ONLY to drawing tablets
Weighted smoothing: applies BOTH to drawing tablets and mice
Here's what Clip Studio Paint does:
Stabilization: applies ONLY to drawing tablets
With a mouse, you move the pointer and clicks only happen when you take a very conscious effort to click a mouse button.
A drawing tablet feels very different. To move the pointer and avoid clicking you hover the pen over the drawing tablet (up to about 10mm) and this will move the pointer without clicking. If you touch the pen to the tablet however, this will count as a click.
So with a drawing tablet you have to get used to hovering and only pressing down when you want to click.
With a mouse it's usually pretty easy to put the pointer on a single pixel and keep it there. You can just move the mouse and once the pointer is where you want it, it's easy to hold the mouse in that position. Or you can even let go of the mouse and the pointer will stay there.
Drawing tablets feel very different in this regard. First, you can't touch the tablet with the pen you have to hover the pen over that spot. While it is very easy to hover in a general location (a couple of pixels wide) its much harder to keep the pen over a specific pixel while hovering because you hand will move around a bit. Also most drawing tablet pens are sensitive to the tilt of the pen, and so if you tilt the pen it may cause some movement in the mouse pointer.
Mice are really good at this. Once the pointer is where you want it, you can click the buttons and this can be done without changing the pointer location.
This is much harder with a pen. First there is the general difficulty of keeping the pointer on a specific pixel. And then, if you press the buttons on the pen, this will almost always change the position of the pen and thus the pointer.
if you are drawing strokes or painting in an app like Clip Studio Paint or Krita, then a drawing tablet will feel MUCH more natural.
If you are layout out shapes and creating vector shapes in applications like Illustrator, a mouse might actually be better because they are easier to keep in a specific pixel location. For example, I normally just use a mouse when I use illustrator.
Using a mouse can place strain on your wrist. Drawing tablets are generally less stressful on your wrist. However, they also can place strain.
Mice get their power from either a cable or they use batteries.
Modern drawing tablets all support wired connection through USB. Some tablets also support wireless connection through bluetooth.
The pens for a modern drawing tablet neither use a cable nor do they have batteries. Instead they get power simply from being near the drawing tablet.
Mice move the pointer through relative positioning while drawing tablets use absolute positioining: .
However, you can configure the tablet driver to use mouse mode to provide relative positioning which will make it feel more like a mouse. more here: .
If you are using a pen tablet (a tablet without a screen) you ABSOLUTELY SHOULD also configure the tablet to match its active area to that of your monitor. More here:
To move without clicking - you have to hold the pen above the tablet (within a range of about 10mm). This is called hover. more here: .
Feb 24, 2020
(2023/05/03)
Mice and drawing tablets have very different positioning strategies. Mice use relative positioning. Drawing tablets use absolute positioning. Learn more here: . Drawing tablets can simulate relative positioning if needed with . However, I don't recommend using mouse mode.
There are many techniques and features to help you draw smooth strokes. Some will work for both mouse and tablet, and some are specific to drawing tablets. More here: .
Make sure you match aspect ratios when you are using a pen tablet so that drawing feels natural and your strokes are not distorted. More here:
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Wacom community forums:
To file a support ticket: You can file a support ticket with Wacom at this link:
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Support page:
What it feels like to draw on a drawing tablet
The easiest way to understand what it feels like to draw on a drawing tablet is to compare it to drawing with pen and paper.
A pen display works just like pen and paper in the sense that you can exactly see what you're drawing. More specifically your eyes are looking at what you're drawing.
With a pen tablet things are very different - your hand is drawing in one place but you're looking somewhere else to see what's being drawn. So fundamentally using a pen tablet works differently than pen and paper.
Because it is more clear what the pen is doing with the pen display many people who use append display say that they “get the stroke right the first time”.
With a pen tablet people often feel like they have to make the stroke multiple times to get it right and have to press undo to erase Any errant strokes.
I would generally agree with this feeling. When I want to get a drawing done faster especially if I have a general sense of what it is I want to draw then I do work faster with the pen display and I find that I have to press undo far less often.
With a pen display, things are natural. You see the pen in the same place the stroke is being drawn - just like when you use pen and paper.
And just like pen-and-paper, your own hand and the pen will block your eyes from seeing the display. The easy solution to this is to reposition your eyes or take advantage of the canvas zoom and rotation features of your drawing app.
With a pen tablet, you are looking at a monitor but drawing somewhere else with your hand. Fundamentally this is no different than using a mouse. So this is kind of a convenience actually since you never have to worry about the positions of your hands. They can be anywhere and they will never block what you see.
Because a pen display works like pen and paper almost everyone can immediately start using a pen display. It's just kind of obvious how it works. And especially these days with so many people having used devices like iPads. They know how to deal with the screen that they can interact with.
For pen tablets things get a little more complicated. I would say that 80% of people can immediately or at least in a few minutes get comfortable using a pen tablet. Another 10% of people will take anywhere from a couple of days to maybe a couple of weeks to adjust to a pen tablet. And the remaining 10% of people will never be able to adjust to a pen tablet. For them it will never feel natural to use. And they are better off getting a pen display.
Unfortunately without trying a pen tablet it's really difficult to tell if you would fall into the 10% of people who just can't use pen tablets..
With a pen display, the active are and the screen have the same size. This means the pen will draw exactly where you see it draw.
With a pen tablet, the active area where you raw is separate from the monitor where you see the your strokes. Unless specifically configured in the driver, this will cause your strokes to be distorted. For example if you draw a circle on the tablet it will show up as an oval on the screen. It is easy to fix this problem in the driver. More here: match aspect ratios between pen tablets and monitors.